By Chia Yan Min

Mr Ong Tze Boon's name probably rings fewer bells with Singaporeans than the name of his illustrious father.

But this may soon change.

The second son of the late former president Ong Teng Cheong harbours ambitious dreams.

Mr Ong, the chairman of environmental design solutions firm Ong & Ong, imagines that his company can become a global giant in the vein of large companies like Coca-Cola, Morgan Stanley and Ikea.

The company has already taken a small step along that path.

Recently, it received an SME Growth Excellence Recognition award for its sales turnover, which stood at about $14 million last year, a 27 per cent increase from 2006.

The award, jointly presented by HSBC and DP Information Group, ranks small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in several categories.

Weathering tough times THE company was founded by the elder Mr Ong and his wife, both architects, in 1972.

The firm was run almost single-handedly by Mrs Ong Siew May, as her husband entered public service soon after. Mr Ong senior held various portfolios in the Government, rising to become deputy prime minister.

He was President of Singapore from 1993 to 1999.

'Like many Asian businesses, it was very much a patriarchal business,' said the younger Mr Ong, 40, who has one son, aged six.

'It grew as much as a single person could help it to.'

He worked in the office of world renowned architect Frank Gehry for a few years after his graduation from university, returning to Singapore to start work in the family firm in July 1994, not long after his father was diagnosed with cancer.

Mrs Ong, who was also diagnosed with cancer in 1997, mentored Mr Ong for five years before succumbing to the disease in 1999.

The Asian financial crisis in 1997 also dealt a blow to Mr Ong and the firm, which was forced to downsize.

He said that when his father died in 2002, he was 'really left in the deep end'.

'Those were tough times. My mother had been in her early 60s, but I was only 31 when she passed away.

'I said to myself, 'Who am I to sustain the practice when it takes someone like her to do the same?''

A new direction

In 2004, Mr Ong met Mr Gary Hoover, founder of bookstore chain Bookstop, now a part of Barnes & Noble.

'He looked around him in the 1980s and saw the many hypermarts that had everything under one roof. It occurred to him that bookstores could do the same thing, and he then established Bookstop,' said Mr Ong.

'If there's anything you can guide your company by, Mr Hoover said, it's looking at what other companies outside your industry are doing. Ask yourself how they do it, and see how you can implement that in your industry. That stuck with me forever, and its now something I subscribe to.'

He put that piece of wisdom into practice in his own firm. 'We need to recognise that consumer patterns have changed. Doing only architecture - designing the outside of buildings - that's like a bookstore that sells only self-improvement books. It would be very difficult to grow a business.

'Since it was already so difficult to get projects back then in 2003, I thought, why should we chop it up into different parts and do only some of them? What people want is convenience.'

In 2003, Mr Ong repositioned the company from an architectural practice to an 'integrated design service'.

'Come to us with a piece of property, and we will build the whole thing from A to Z,' he said.

He notes that many firms offer only specific design services, for example, landscaping, architectural design or interior design.

But his firm 'wants to do them all'.

'We're no longer just an architectural firm, we do much more,' he said.

'It's very hard to move forward in the future with singular disciplines.'

The firm now has various arms specialising in architecture, landscaping and graphic design, among other things.

The Quincy, a new hotel that will be completed this year, is the first local project in which the firm's entire buffet of services is being utilised.

The landscaping, architecture, and interior and graphic designs for the hotel were all done by Ong & Ong, right down to the selection of its name.

The client for the Quincy, located in Mount Elizabeth Road, off Orchard Road, is Golden Development, a part of Far East Organization.

'We're on a little bit of an uphill battle to offer integrated services here, because many developers already have their own circle of 'friends' they rely on for these services,' said Mr Ong.

'The new hotel will be a testament of what we can do.'

'My mother would have been very cautious about the change,' he said.

'But as with all change, people are usually cautious.'

He added: 'If your internal rate of change is slower than the external rate of change, you will become obsolete. The only issue today is that the external rate of change is pretty fast, and I believe this is the way to go.'

Growing the business

This entrepreneurial spirit has also taken the firm overseas - it has a presence in India, China, Malaysia and Vietnam.

'Going overseas was a natural progression. Even as Singapore is going through its present boom, my focus is still overseas, for the simple reason that we have a limited population,' he said.

'More buildings are going up in China and Vietnam than in Singapore.'

The company, however, still maintains its central headquarters in the Republic.

Mr Ong hopes to create a global brand.

'Ong & Ong needs to be a company that is far-reaching. We do not want to be Singapore-centric. When you think of having a drink, you automatically think of Coke. We want to be the same.

'I don't want to be the latest 'in' company. I want us to be a company that lasts, and not just be a trendsetter. 'It can't be all about me, my time will come to pass. I really believe we have to build an organisation that is institutionalised...I want us to be a consistent organisation turning out progressive, good work. I want us to be a 100-year company.'

His advice for entrepreneurs?

'My mother told me, 'Don't chase after money. Pursue what you enjoy and the money will find you.''

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 25 June 2008.